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GoodLife Fitness settles unpaid wages class action

Gym giant GoodLife Fitness has settled a class-action lawsuit over unpaid wages for $7.5 million, after employees claimed the company “systematically failed” to accurately compensate them for hours of work and overtime.

The suit originally filed in October 2016 by Toronto-based labour law firm Goldblatt Partners alleged that the gym did not pay employees for certain kinds of work, such as preparation for classes and seeking out new clients, and created “an unlawful barrier to payment of overtime” at its 166 locations across Ontario.

Carrie Eklund, the representative plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against GoodLife Fitness for unpaid wages and overtime, said she is “proud” of what the case and the settlement have achieved for GoodLife employees. (Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STAR)

Last year, the scope of the suit was expanded nationwide — so the settlement, which is pending court approval, will impact thousands of current and former non-managerial employees across Canada.

After the $60 million class action launched, GoodLife made significant changes to its payment policies. It began paying personal trainers for their prospecting hours and removed clawbacks on their commission. It also began paying trainers for preparation and administrative tasks and paying lieu time at time-and-a-half, rather than straight time, as required by law.

Carrie Eklund, the representative plaintiff in the suit, said she was “proud of what this case and this settlement have achieved for GoodLife employees.”

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“I started this class action because I believed GoodLife employees deserved to be paid for all of their hard work, and the changes this claim encouraged and the settlement money to be paid to the class go a long way towards that goal.”

Personal trainers will get around $5.5 million out of the settlement, and fitness advisers around $800,000. Other job classifications will be paid out from the balance of the $7.5 million settlement. Individual dollar figures will be determined based on the amount of work employees did at the gym from October 2014 to the end of December 2017.

GoodLife will donate cheques that are not cashed after six months to the Canadian Cancer Society.

David Patchell-Evans, the founder and CEO of GoodLife Fitness, said in an emailed statement that he could not comment on the specifics of the settlement as it is still before the courts, but said it was “important to come to a settlement that is reasonable for all to bring closure to this case.”

“We are hopeful that the court approves the proposed settlement so that we may continue on our journey to provide the best experience for our members and associates.”

Goldblatt lawyer Josh Mandryk said the settlement would put “millions of dollars into the pockets of current and former GoodLife employees, and the changes encouraged by this class action will mean millions more in wages for current and future employees each year going forward.”

“Work in the fitness industry is notoriously precarious,” said Goldblatt co-counsel Christine Davies. “This settlement and the changes made since this class action was filed sent a strong message that all work must be paid and will have reverberations throughout the fitness industry.”

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The Star has previously reported on an organizing campaign at GoodLife that resulted in around 650 Toronto personal trainers unionizing after complaints of poor pay and health and safety concerns.

Unionized employees are eligible for settlement payouts up until Dec. 5, 2017, when they signed their first collective agreement.

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